Cover of Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, featuring the text Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders By Anthony Horowitz Book Review

Moonflower Murders is a 2020 mystery novel by British author Anthony Horowitz. It’s the second book in the Susan Ryeland series. The story focuses on the disappearance of a hotel employee and uses a story within a story format.

 

Here’s my review of the book. 

 

Plot

Susan Ryeland. Who once worked as a book editor at Cloverleaf Books, a publishing house near the British Museum in London. However, due to the unexpected events of the “Magpie Murders” that happened in her life, today she lives in Crete, Greece, with her partner Andreas. There, the two manage a hotel for tourists, and their lives somehow go on with the income from the hotel. But even after death, Alan Conway was not leaving Susan! 

 

Suddenly, one day, a British couple named Lawrence Treherne and Pauline Treherne appeared at Susan’s hotel. They told Susan about a strange incident. Susan was surprised to hear that Because the British couple claims that their daughter Cicely Treherne went missing after reading the book “Atticus Pund Takes the Case” written by Alan Conway. Not only that, before the disappearance, their daughter Cecily said that the man who is still in jail for a murder that happened eight years ago at their hotel, Branlo Hall, is not actually the real killer. Whether it was an unspoken call within herself or for the sake of money, Susan came to England despite Andreas’s objection and started the investigation of the murder and the disappearance of Cecily from the Branlo Hall Hotel.

 

Since the start of the investigation, various obstacles have started. Some are upset about past events, and some ignore Susan. Someone wanted to pounce on her like a ferocious beast. Instead of helping, the police were threatening her. In the end, Susan was forced to go back to read the book “Atticus Pund Takes the Case” written by Alan Conway, from which all this started. That book was really the only key to solving this murder mystery. Susan Ryeland had to step into a death trap to solve the mystery because Susan was going to unknowingly uncover the dark side of people with perverse tastes and a hideous form of civilized society!

 

My Review

The writing style of Moonflower Murders is similar to its predecessor, Magpie Murders, a story within a story. Even though it was a novel of more than 600 pages, I didn’t get bored. The plot was so good throughout the book. Susan Ryeland’s part seems a little weak compared to Atticus Pund’s part in the previous book, but in this book, the author has given equal importance to both characters. The case of Atticus Pund gave the taste of Agatha Christie-type Golden Age mystery fiction, and the case of Susan Ryeland gave the taste of the contemporary crime thriller. 

 

When it comes to the characterization of the book Moonflower Murders, Atticus Pund and his entire case-handling process are fantastic. In this novel, Susan Ryeland also does an excellent job with her case. Alan Conway’s influence was also quite good in this novel. The rest of the characters in the two stories spanning two periods of Moonflower Murders were also good story-wise. Several dialogues in this book are memorable. The book Moonflower Murders moves forward with a lot of suspense in the story from the beginning, and it can be said that there is a great ending to that suspense.

 

In terms of mystery novels, “Moonflower Murders” surpasses the previous book “Magpie Murders” in almost all aspects. From start to finish, I found the book excellent as a mystery novel. I highly recommend this book to all thriller lovers.

 

Price

Kindle – $13.99

 

Hardcover – $14.19

 

Paperback – $14.19

 

Personal Rating

8.5/10. As there is another book inside the book, you can get a taste of two books by reading one book. Two mysteries will be solved. Besides, the author’s writing quality is very good. Every incident has been beautifully portrayed.

 

Similar Books

  1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.